<!--
  * t
  ****************************************************************************
  * Copyright 2018-2022,2023 Thomas E. Dickey                                *
  * Copyright 1998-2016,2017 Free Software Foundation, Inc.                  *
  *                                                                          *
  * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a  *
  * copy of this software and associated documentation files (the            *
  * "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including      *
  * without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish,      *
  * distribute, distribute with modifications, sublicense, and/or sell       *
  * copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is    *
  * furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:                 *
  *                                                                          *
  * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included  *
  * in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.                   *
  *                                                                          *
  * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS  *
  * OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF               *
  * MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.   *
  * IN NO EVENT SHALL THE ABOVE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM,   *
  * DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR    *
  * OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR    *
  * THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.                               *
  *                                                                          *
  * Except as contained in this notice, the name(s) of the above copyright   *
  * holders shall not be used in advertising or otherwise to promote the     *
  * sale, use or other dealings in this Software without prior written       *
  * authorization.                                                           *
  ****************************************************************************
  * @Id: curs_getch.3x,v 1.72 2023/09/16 23:34:43 tom Exp @
-->
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN">
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<meta name="generator" content="Manpage converted by man2html - see https://invisible-island.net/scripts/readme.html#others_scripts">
<TITLE>curs_getch 3x 2023-09-16 ncurses 6.4 Library calls</TITLE>
<link rel="author" href="mailto:bug-ncurses@gnu.org">

</HEAD>
<BODY>
<H1 class="no-header">curs_getch 3x 2023-09-16 ncurses 6.4 Library calls</H1>
<PRE>
<STRONG><A HREF="curs_getch.3x.html">curs_getch(3x)</A></STRONG>                   Library calls                  <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getch.3x.html">curs_getch(3x)</A></STRONG>




</PRE><H2><a name="h2-NAME">NAME</a></H2><PRE>
       <STRONG>getch</STRONG>, <STRONG>wgetch</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvgetch</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvwgetch</STRONG>, <STRONG>ungetch</STRONG>, <STRONG>has_key</STRONG> - get (or push back)
       characters from <EM>curses</EM> terminal keyboard


</PRE><H2><a name="h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></H2><PRE>
       <STRONG>#include</STRONG> <STRONG>&lt;curses.h&gt;</STRONG>

       <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>getch(void);</STRONG>
       <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>wgetch(WINDOW</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>win</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>

       <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>mvgetch(int</STRONG> <EM>y</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>x</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
       <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>mvwgetch(WINDOW</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>win</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>y</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>x</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>

       <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>ungetch(int</STRONG> <EM>ch</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>

       /* extension */
       <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>has_key(int</STRONG> <EM>ch</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>


</PRE><H2><a name="h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a></H2><PRE>

</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Reading-characters">Reading characters</a></H3><PRE>
       The <STRONG>getch</STRONG>, <STRONG>wgetch</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvgetch</STRONG> and <STRONG>mvwgetch</STRONG>, routines read a character from
       the window.  In no-delay mode, if no input is waiting, the value <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> is
       returned.  In delay mode, the program waits  until  the  system  passes
       text  through to the program.  Depending on the setting of <STRONG>cbreak</STRONG>, this
       is after one character  (cbreak  mode),  or  after  the  first  newline
       (nocbreak  mode).   In  half-delay  mode,  the  program  waits  until a
       character is typed or the specified timeout has been reached.

       If <STRONG>echo</STRONG> is enabled, and the window is not a  pad,  then  the  character
       will  also  be  echoed  into  the  designated  window  according to the
       following rules:

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   If the character is the current erase  character,  left  arrow,  or
           backspace,  the  cursor  is  moved  one  space to the left and that
           screen position is erased as if <STRONG>delch</STRONG> had been called.

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   If the character value is  any  other  <STRONG>KEY_</STRONG>  define,  the  user  is
           alerted with a <STRONG>beep</STRONG> call.

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   If  the character is a carriage-return, and if <STRONG>nl</STRONG> is enabled, it is
           translated to a line-feed after echoing.

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   Otherwise the character is simply output to the screen.

       If the window is not a pad, and it has been moved or modified since the
       last call to <STRONG>wrefresh</STRONG>, <STRONG>wrefresh</STRONG> will be called before another character
       is read.


</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Keypad-mode">Keypad mode</a></H3><PRE>
       If <STRONG>keypad</STRONG> is <STRONG>TRUE</STRONG>, and a function key is pressed, the  token  for  that
       function key is returned instead of the raw characters:

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   The  predefined  function  keys  are listed in <STRONG>&lt;curses.h&gt;</STRONG> as macros
           with values outside the range of  8-bit  characters.   Their  names
           begin with <STRONG>KEY_</STRONG>.

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   Other  (user-defined)  function  keys  which  may  be defined using
           <STRONG><A HREF="define_key.3x.html">define_key(3x)</A></STRONG> have no names, but also are expected to have  values
           outside the range of 8-bit characters.

       Thus,  a  variable  intended to hold the return value of a function key
       must be of short size or larger.

       When a character that could be the  beginning  of  a  function  key  is
       received  (which,  on  modern  terminals,  means  an escape character),
       <STRONG>curses</STRONG> sets a timer.  If the remainder of the sequence does not come in
       within the designated time, the character is passed through; otherwise,
       the function key value is returned.  For this  reason,  many  terminals
       experience  a  delay between the time a user presses the escape key and
       the escape is returned to the program.

       In <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>, the timer normally expires after the value in <STRONG>ESCDELAY</STRONG> (see
       <STRONG><A HREF="curs_variables.3x.html">curs_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>).   If <STRONG>notimeout</STRONG> is <STRONG>TRUE</STRONG>, the timer does not expire;
       it is an infinite (or very large) value.  Because function keys usually
       begin  with  an  escape  character,  the terminal may appear to hang in
       notimeout mode after pressing the  escape  key  until  another  key  is
       pressed.


</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Ungetting-characters">Ungetting characters</a></H3><PRE>
       The  <STRONG>ungetch</STRONG> routine places <EM>ch</EM> back onto the input queue to be returned
       by the next call to <STRONG>wgetch</STRONG>.  There is just  one  input  queue  for  all
       windows.


</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Predefined-key-codes">Predefined key-codes</a></H3><PRE>
       The following special keys are defined in <STRONG>&lt;curses.h&gt;</STRONG>.

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   Except  for  the special case <STRONG>KEY_RESIZE</STRONG>, it is necessary to enable
           <STRONG>keypad</STRONG> for <STRONG>getch</STRONG> to return these codes.

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   Not all of  these  are  necessarily  supported  on  any  particular
           terminal.

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   The   naming  convention  may  seem  obscure,  with  some  apparent
           misspellings (such as "RSUME" for "resume").  The names  correspond
           to  the  long  terminfo  capability  names  for  the keys, and were
           defined long ago, in the 1980s.

              <STRONG>Name</STRONG>            <STRONG>Key</STRONG> <STRONG>name</STRONG>
              -------------------------------------------------
              KEY_BREAK       Break key
              KEY_DOWN        The four arrow keys ...
              KEY_UP
              KEY_LEFT
              KEY_RIGHT
              KEY_HOME        Home key (upward+left arrow)
              KEY_BACKSPACE   Backspace
              KEY_F0          Function keys; space for 64 keys
                              is reserved.
              KEY_F(<EM>n</EM>)        For 0 &lt;= <EM>n</EM> &lt;= 63
              KEY_DL          Delete line
              KEY_IL          Insert line
              KEY_DC          Delete character
              KEY_IC          Insert char or enter insert mode
              KEY_EIC         Exit insert char mode
              KEY_CLEAR       Clear screen
              KEY_EOS         Clear to end of screen
              KEY_EOL         Clear to end of line
              KEY_SF          Scroll 1 line forward
              KEY_SR          Scroll 1 line backward (reverse)
              KEY_NPAGE       Next page
              KEY_PPAGE       Previous page
              KEY_STAB        Set tab
              KEY_CTAB        Clear tab
              KEY_CATAB       Clear all tabs
              KEY_ENTER       Enter or send
              KEY_SRESET      Soft (partial) reset
              KEY_RESET       Reset or hard reset

              KEY_PRINT       Print or copy
              KEY_LL          Home down or bottom (lower left)
              KEY_A1          Upper left of keypad
              KEY_A3          Upper right of keypad
              KEY_B2          Center of keypad
              KEY_C1          Lower left of keypad
              KEY_C3          Lower right of keypad
              KEY_BTAB        Back tab key
              KEY_BEG         Beg(inning) key
              KEY_CANCEL      Cancel key
              KEY_CLOSE       Close key
              KEY_COMMAND     Cmd (command) key
              KEY_COPY        Copy key
              KEY_CREATE      Create key
              KEY_END         End key
              KEY_EXIT        Exit key
              KEY_FIND        Find key
              KEY_HELP        Help key
              KEY_MARK        Mark key
              KEY_MESSAGE     Message key
              KEY_MOUSE       Mouse event occurred
              KEY_MOVE        Move key
              KEY_NEXT        Next object key
              KEY_OPEN        Open key
              KEY_OPTIONS     Options key
              KEY_PREVIOUS    Previous object key
              KEY_REDO        Redo key
              KEY_REFERENCE   Ref(erence) key
              KEY_REFRESH     Refresh key
              KEY_REPLACE     Replace key
              KEY_RESIZE      Screen resized
              KEY_RESTART     Restart key
              KEY_RESUME      Resume key
              KEY_SAVE        Save key
              KEY_SBEG        Shifted beginning key
              KEY_SCANCEL     Shifted cancel key
              KEY_SCOMMAND    Shifted command key
              KEY_SCOPY       Shifted copy key
              KEY_SCREATE     Shifted create key
              KEY_SDC         Shifted delete char key
              KEY_SDL         Shifted delete line key
              KEY_SELECT      Select key
              KEY_SEND        Shifted end key
              KEY_SEOL        Shifted clear line key
              KEY_SEXIT       Shifted exit key
              KEY_SFIND       Shifted find key
              KEY_SHELP       Shifted help key
              KEY_SHOME       Shifted home key
              KEY_SIC         Shifted insert key
              KEY_SLEFT       Shifted left arrow key
              KEY_SMESSAGE    Shifted message key
              KEY_SMOVE       Shifted move key
              KEY_SNEXT       Shifted next key
              KEY_SOPTIONS    Shifted options key
              KEY_SPREVIOUS   Shifted prev key
              KEY_SPRINT      Shifted print key
              KEY_SREDO       Shifted redo key
              KEY_SREPLACE    Shifted replace key
              KEY_SRIGHT      Shifted right arrow key
              KEY_SRSUME      Shifted resume key
              KEY_SSAVE       Shifted save key
              KEY_SSUSPEND    Shifted suspend key
              KEY_SUNDO       Shifted undo key
              KEY_SUSPEND     Suspend key
              KEY_UNDO        Undo key

       Keypad is arranged like this:

              +-----+------+-------+
              | <STRONG>A1</STRONG>  |  <STRONG>up</STRONG>  |  <STRONG>A3</STRONG>   |
              +-----+------+-------+
              |<STRONG>left</STRONG> |  <STRONG>B2</STRONG>  | <STRONG>right</STRONG> |
              +-----+------+-------+
              | <STRONG>C1</STRONG>  | <STRONG>down</STRONG> |  <STRONG>C3</STRONG>   |
              +-----+------+-------+
       A few of these predefined values do <EM>not</EM> correspond to a real key:

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   <STRONG>KEY_RESIZE</STRONG>  is  returned when the <STRONG>SIGWINCH</STRONG> signal has been detected
           (see  <STRONG><A HREF="curs_initscr.3x.html">initscr(3x)</A></STRONG>  and  <STRONG><A HREF="resizeterm.3x.html">resizeterm(3x)</A></STRONG>).   This  code  is  returned
           whether or not <STRONG>keypad</STRONG> has been enabled.

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   <STRONG>KEY_MOUSE</STRONG>  is returned for mouse-events (see <STRONG><A HREF="curs_mouse.3x.html">curs_mouse(3x)</A></STRONG>).  This
           code relies upon  whether  or  not  <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inopts.3x.html">keypad(3x)</A></STRONG>  has  been  enabled,
           because  (e.g.,  with  <STRONG>xterm(1)</STRONG> mouse prototocol) ncurses must read
           escape sequences, just like a function key.


</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Testing-key-codes">Testing key-codes</a></H3><PRE>
       The <STRONG>has_key</STRONG> routine takes a key-code value from  the  above  list,  and
       returns  <STRONG>TRUE</STRONG>  or  <STRONG>FALSE</STRONG> according to whether the current terminal type
       recognizes a key with that value.

       The library also supports these extensions:

          <STRONG>define_key</STRONG>
               defines a key-code for a given string (see <STRONG><A HREF="define_key.3x.html">define_key(3x)</A></STRONG>).

          <STRONG>key_defined</STRONG>
               checks if there is a key-code defined for a given  string  (see
               <STRONG><A HREF="key_defined.3x.html">key_defined(3x)</A></STRONG>).


</PRE><H2><a name="h2-RETURN-VALUE">RETURN VALUE</a></H2><PRE>
       All  routines  return the integer <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> upon failure and an integer value
       other than <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> (<STRONG>OK</STRONG> in the case of <STRONG>ungetch</STRONG>) upon successful completion.

          <STRONG>ungetch</STRONG>
               returns <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> if there is no more room in the FIFO.

          <STRONG>wgetch</STRONG>
               returns <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> if the window pointer is null, or  if  its  timeout
               expires  without  having  any  data,  or  if  the execution was
               interrupted by a signal (<STRONG>errno</STRONG> will be set to <STRONG>EINTR</STRONG>).

       Functions with a "mv" prefix first  perform  a  cursor  movement  using
       <STRONG>wmove</STRONG>, and return an error if the position is outside the window, or if
       the window pointer is null.


</PRE><H2><a name="h2-NOTES">NOTES</a></H2><PRE>
       Use of the escape key by a programmer for a single  character  function
       is  discouraged, as it will cause a delay of up to one second while the
       keypad code looks for a following function-key sequence.

       Some keys may  be  the  same  as  commonly  used  control  keys,  e.g.,
       <STRONG>KEY_ENTER</STRONG>  versus  control/M,  <STRONG>KEY_BACKSPACE</STRONG>  versus  control/H.   Some
       curses implementations may differ according to whether they treat these
       control  keys  specially (and ignore the terminfo), or use the terminfo
       definitions.  <STRONG>Ncurses</STRONG> uses the terminfo definition.  If  it  says  that
       <STRONG>KEY_ENTER</STRONG>  is  control/M,  <STRONG>getch</STRONG>  will  return <STRONG>KEY_ENTER</STRONG> when you press
       control/M.

       Generally, <STRONG>KEY_ENTER</STRONG> denotes the character(s) sent by the <EM>Enter</EM> key  on
       the numeric keypad:

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   the terminal description lists the most useful keys,

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   the  <EM>Enter</EM>  key  on  the regular keyboard is already handled by the
           standard ASCII characters for carriage-return and line-feed,

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   depending on whether <STRONG>nl</STRONG> or <STRONG>nonl</STRONG> was called, pressing "Enter" on the
           regular  keyboard may return either a carriage-return or line-feed,
           and finally

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   "Enter or send" is the standard description for this key.

       When  using  <STRONG>getch</STRONG>,  <STRONG>wgetch</STRONG>,  <STRONG>mvgetch</STRONG>,  or  <STRONG>mvwgetch</STRONG>,   nocbreak   mode
       (<STRONG>nocbreak</STRONG>)  and  echo  mode (<STRONG>echo</STRONG>) should not be used at the same time.
       Depending on the state of the tty driver when each character is  typed,
       the program may produce undesirable results.

       Note that <STRONG>getch</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvgetch</STRONG>, and <STRONG>mvwgetch</STRONG> may be macros.

       Historically,  the  set  of  keypad  macros  was largely defined by the
       extremely function-key-rich keyboard of the AT&amp;T  7300,  aka  3B1,  aka
       Safari  4.   Modern personal computers usually have only a small subset
       of these.  IBM PC-style consoles typically  support  little  more  than
       <STRONG>KEY_UP</STRONG>,  <STRONG>KEY_DOWN</STRONG>,  <STRONG>KEY_LEFT</STRONG>,  <STRONG>KEY_RIGHT</STRONG>, <STRONG>KEY_HOME</STRONG>, <STRONG>KEY_END</STRONG>, <STRONG>KEY_NPAGE</STRONG>,
       <STRONG>KEY_PPAGE</STRONG>, and function keys 1 through 12.   The  Ins  key  is  usually
       mapped to <STRONG>KEY_IC</STRONG>.


</PRE><H2><a name="h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a></H2><PRE>
       The  *get* functions are described in the XSI Curses standard, Issue 4.
       They read single-byte characters only.   The  standard  specifies  that
       they return <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> on failure, but specifies no error conditions.

       The  echo  behavior  of  these  functions on input of <STRONG>KEY_</STRONG> or backspace
       characters  was  not  specified  in  the  SVr4   documentation.    This
       description is adopted from the XSI Curses standard.

       The behavior of <STRONG>getch</STRONG> and friends in the presence of handled signals is
       unspecified in the SVr4 and XSI Curses documentation.  Under historical
       curses  implementations,  it  varied depending on whether the operating
       system's implementation of handled signal receipt interrupts a  <STRONG>read(2)</STRONG>
       call  in  progress or not, and also (in some implementations) depending
       on whether an input timeout or non-blocking mode has been set.

       <STRONG>KEY_MOUSE</STRONG> is mentioned in XSI Curses, along with a few related terminfo
       capabilities,  but  no  higher-level  functions  use  the feature.  The
       implementation in ncurses is an extension.

       <STRONG>KEY_RESIZE</STRONG> is an  extension  first  implemented  for  ncurses.   NetBSD
       curses later added this extension.

       Programmers  concerned  about portability should be prepared for either
       of two cases: (a) signal receipt does not interrupt <STRONG>getch</STRONG>;  (b)  signal
       receipt  interrupts <STRONG>getch</STRONG> and causes it to return <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> with <STRONG>errno</STRONG> set to
       <STRONG>EINTR</STRONG>.

       The <STRONG>has_key</STRONG> function is unique to <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>.  We recommend that any  code
       using it be conditionalized on the <STRONG>NCURSES_VERSION</STRONG> feature macro.


</PRE><H2><a name="h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></H2><PRE>
       <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>,     <STRONG><A HREF="curs_inopts.3x.html">curs_inopts(3x)</A></STRONG>,     <STRONG><A HREF="curs_mouse.3x.html">curs_mouse(3x)</A></STRONG>,     <STRONG><A HREF="curs_move.3x.html">curs_move(3x)</A></STRONG>,
       <STRONG><A HREF="curs_outopts.3x.html">curs_outopts(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_refresh.3x.html">curs_refresh(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_variables.3x.html">curs_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="resizeterm.3x.html">resizeterm(3x)</A></STRONG>.

       Comparable functions  in  the  wide-character  (ncursesw)  library  are
       described in <STRONG><A HREF="curs_get_wch.3x.html">curs_get_wch(3x)</A></STRONG>.



ncurses 6.4                       2023-09-16                    <STRONG><A HREF="curs_getch.3x.html">curs_getch(3x)</A></STRONG>
</PRE>
<div class="nav">
<ul>
<li><a href="#h2-NAME">NAME</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#h3-Reading-characters">Reading characters</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Keypad-mode">Keypad mode</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Ungetting-characters">Ungetting characters</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Predefined-key-codes">Predefined key-codes</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Testing-key-codes">Testing key-codes</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="#h2-RETURN-VALUE">RETURN VALUE</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-NOTES">NOTES</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</BODY>
</HTML>
